The end of 2008 is around the corner, and the sarasutton label is still going strong, despite these trying economic times. The year has been a madcap adventure, with new shows to try out and new ideas to develop. This was the year that spawned the layer sweaters, one of my wild spur of the moment inspirations debuted at the Bellevue Art Fair show in July. I was a wreck at that show, a new one that seemed daunting and sure to be a disaster. The new sweaters seemed too out there to be embraced. How wrong was I! It was a great success, and inspired me to become even more creative with the sweaters. From there we moved to Art in the High Desert, a new show in Bend, on the Deschutes. A beautiful venue with wonderful organizers and artists, but a quiet show, being a first year event. From there we headed to Lyndhurst in beautiful Tarrytown, NY. Saw our favorite supporters, including the always amazing Meredith Bernstein, literary agent extraordinaire and fashionista beyond compare. The show was not outstanding, but we made milk money and had enough great feedback to keep going. Then it was back to the studio, to replenish depleted stock and build up enough inventory for two back-to-back shows in December, Chicago One-of-a-Kind and Crafts Park Avenue. Both shows were a blast, with good sales despite the doom and gloom. We met incredible people in Chicago, both customers and other vendors. It is always such a great pleasure to have people try on the sweaters and fall in love with them.
Chicago is a huge venue, and we met some great people, including Jane and Ron, Adam and Halli, and Olive.